Break in to my Heart
by OrangeMouse
Summary: "Eren thought he was having a pretty good day, at least before he ended up sheltering a criminal. He'd just started his new job a week ago as a security guard at the Museum of Modern Art where he was working for the summer. There was no harm to a simple summer job. Or at least, that's what he believed up until now." EreRi AU Police!Eren and criminal!Levi
1. Chapter 1

**Break in to My Heart**

* * *

Eren thought he was having a pretty good day, at least before he ended up sheltering a criminal.

He'd just started his new job a week ago as a security guard at the Museum of Modern Art where he was working for the summer. This was partly to pay for next term university expenses since his parents were abroad and partly because he'd thought it would be pretty cool to be a police officer of some sort. Armin had teased him about his childish way of thinking since they were already twenty and according to Mikasa, should be 'choosing a good career for the future'. Eren agreed with them but hey, there was no harm to a simple summer job. Or at least, that's what he believed up until now.

His step-sister Mikasa, who was dubbed a prodigy by their high school teachers, was helping out as a beginner police officer. His best friend Armin is attending medical school and would be working part-time as a doctor's assistant over the summer. So compared to them, Eren supposed his choice did look a little lame, but he liked it nonetheless.

Everyone at the museum was very nice and easy to get along with. Their secretary Christa, a pretty, petite blonde girl, was kind enough to show Eren around on his first day and also steered him in the right direction the first five times he got lost. Her friend Ymir taught him how to set up the paintings for display before opening, though the gesture was set back a bit when she kicked him for almost dropping a painting. Reiner and Bertholdt, who were always together, showed him the special exhibits and how to handle the artworks. The only person who Eren had a slight difficulty getting along with was Jean, who was also most _conveniently _placed on the same shift as him. Though as Armin had said, Eren should probably consider himself lucky he didn't get fired after getting into a fight with Jean on his first day. But in his defense, Jean was the one who almost tripped him while he was carrying an expensive painting, which would have definitely gotten him kicked again by Ymir if not worse.

Like him, most of the people working at the gallery were university students trying to make some money over the summer. According to Annie, a small but fierce girl that usually tagged around after Reiner and Bertholdt, she wouldn't be here if she didn't need to pay for her classes. The only person who looked like they genuinely wanted to be there was Christa, and everyone liked her for her cheery and bright personality.

So up until this point, Eren thought he was doing pretty well. After a week of working at the museum and finally lasting a day without getting lost, everything just had to take a turn for the worse. Tonight, he was assigned night shift with Ymir, Annie, and to his disgust, Jean.

Eren wondered why they were even called night shifts since they started at seven and pretty much finished at ten. Ymir just scoffed and asked him sarcastically if he wanted to work even later.

They were patrolling the corridors of the new exhibitions when the security alarm went off.

"What?!" yelped Eren. "What's going on?"

"Like hell I'd know!" retorted Jean, who had only started a week before Eren and had never been in an emergency. But the way Eren looked at it, he never passed any chance to get into a fight.

"I wasn't even asking you!"

"Both of you shut up!" snapped Ymir, whacking them both heavily upside the head. Annie sighed at this display of childish behavior and took out her pager, muttering a quick conversation with Reiner who was working at the front desk.

"What's happened?" asked Ymir looking towards Annie.

"There's been a break in."

"What?"

"Eren shut up!" growled Ymir. "The museum closed early today, so you're saying there's a thief?"

Annie nodded. "Well not necessarily, the alarm at the front door went off, the doors were locked two hours ago, and there was no one detected on the security camera entering or exiting the building."

Ymir scowled. "Well then, I guess we'll have to find this thief. Eren! You take this floor, Jean - no Jean _shut up!-_you're doing the other half of this floor with Eren, Annie will do the second floor - Annie gave a quick nod-, and I'll cover the third," finished Ymir commandingly. "Christa will call the cops. Page the front desk if you find anything. Though if you do, do not attempt to approach them, none of you are trained and remember to put your own safety _first_." And with that she whipped around and ran out of sight.

Eren still stood there gaping at where Ymir had left. What was he supposed to do? He'd only been here a week and suddenly they have a break in.

_So basically we have to go and find a _thief _in this huge museum?! For all we know they could already be gone by now…_

Annie regarded him with a scowl. "Eren, if you're scared then go to the front desk and meet Christa there. I'll take over your floor."

"Wha-" Eren snapped out of his thoughts. "What- no, no I'm fine. I'll- I'll be going now." He threw Jean one last glare (which Jean returned with a challenging smirk as though to say _I bet I'll catch him first_) and ran off in the direction of the entrance. "I'll meet you back here when we're finished Jean!"

_Might as well start from the front, _thought Eren._ Maybe the thief is after the new exhibition?_

Shoes clicking down the hallway, Eren made his way to the entrance of the exhibition keeping an eye out for movement. Unless the others finished their floors, Eren should be the only person here. He rushed through the rooms, checking behind and under all the works and flipped open storage rooms and cupboards he encountered. So far, no one was here.

_The intruder isn't stupid, they've probably heard the alarm too. Anyone in the right mind would have left the first chance they got, it's not like they'd wait for the police to arrive._

Once he thought he saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked again there was nothing there. _Probably just a trick of the light_, he thought, trying to keep himself calm. To be honest, he kind of liked the adrenaline rushing through his veins. The hallways were dimly lit and his shoes clicked against the tiles as he ran from room to room. He thought about his other group mates, had they finished their floors yet? Maybe someone had already _caught_ the intruder.

Well if it were Jean, he's never going to be hear the end of that. _Hmm what if..? _Eren imagined what if would be like it _he _had caught the intruder. Well, he'd get to rub it in Jean's face, that almost made it worth it. In his mind's eye, he could see himself tying up the thief which he pictured as an old guy with a mustache like they see in the movies. But Mikasa would be really angry if he put himself in danger merely for the purpose of showing off to a colleague. Eren sighed. Maybe he'll get lucky and this whole thing would just be a false alarm.

_Ah, there it is again. _A slight flash of white to his left, but it was so brief that Eren didn't even trust his eyes. Blinking a few times, Eren looked around, debating whether or not that was worth calling the front desk. Annie and Ymir would get seriously pissed off if he had seen wrong. He was just about to turn around and leave when he heard a muffled clinking sound behind him. Whipping back he stared down the hallway. _Are my ears playing tricks on me too?_Though he could've sworn he saw movement back then as well…

Pulling out his flashlight, he walked into the nearest room to his left where he thought he'd heard the sound. The room was fairly dark. The walls were lined with numerous paintings and there was a bench at the entrance, a table at the far corner, and a closet in the back. No one was here.

Making his way into the room, he ran his gaze over the paintings and the furniture wondering if there was any place to hide in here. It was pretty plain, the only place he'd think a person might fit would be in the closet in the far corner and they'd have to be fairly small. He shone the flashlight to the very corners and crevices of the room until his green eyes focused again on the closet. Swallowing hard, he walked up to the closet as quietly as he could and put a hand lightly on the handle. Heart thumping in his chest, he gave a quick count to three before yanking the door open.

It was empty.

Eren let out a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding. _Guess this room is clear after all._

Just when he'd turned around to leave, his foot caught on the edge of the carpet and he crashed loudly into the table. His flashlight rolled away across the ground leaving him in darkness.

"Ow-ow…" muttered Eren, wincing slightly as he blinked his eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness. "Ugh, I'm so clumsy…I hope I didn't break anything…" After a few seconds, his eyes widened realizing what he was seeing.

The hard form under him which he'd thought was the debris of the table was actually … _a person._

_He's was hiding under the table. _His clothes camouflaged perfectly so that when he was crouched, the shadow would hide him from view_. _If Eren hadn't fallen, he wouldn't have noticed him at all. Through the darkness, Eren could make out his pale blue eyes and he looked around Eren's age.

Eren's brain jolted into motion.

_So he's the intruder._

The person stared at him in surprise. He had pale eyes and skin Eren noted, and short dark hair fell around his face parted roughly in the middle. His mouth was parted slightly in shock.

_Not what I pictured him to look like, this guy looks around my age…_

With a gasp, Eren sat up and pinned the guy's arms forcibly down by the wrists onto the ground. The intruder, who'd recovered from the shock, sent his knee up and knocked the breath out of Eren. Though coughing heavily, Eren's grip didn't falter, he still had the boy pushed against the ground though his eyes were starting to water from the impact. All thoughts about Mikasa's warnings had long left his mind.

His head snapped up when he heard footsteps coming towards the room. The boy's eyes darted to the door before snapping back and meeting Eren's gaze. It was only a brief moment, but Eren thought he saw fear in the boy's eyes. It was only a quick flash before the pale blue hardened and it couldn't be clearer that he was about to attack again.

Eren's mouth pressed into a thin frown. Throwing one last look towards the door, he grabbed the boy's wrist and yanked him up harshly, dragging him into swiftly to the closet at the end of the room. The boy began to struggle immediately though he knew better than to yell, still Eren had to use all his strength to keep a hold on his wrists. A leg shot out and hit him hard on the back of his heel and Eren gasped as his leg gave out under him. The boy managed to slip one arm out of Eren's grip and pulled it back about to punch him hard in the face. Whipping out the handcuffs attached to his belt, Eren snapped one onto the boy's wrist that he still had in his hand and the other to the inside handle of the closet before shoving him into it.

The other finally spoke, he seemed angry to the point he could no longer keep quiet. His pale eyes flashed dangerously.

"What the _hell _do you think you're doing?!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down but wringing his wrist so that the metal chains clattered against the door.

"Just stay here! Don't move and _be quiet._" Muttered Eren and he closed the door.

* * *

Inside the closet, the boy looked around quickly, there were no other exits.

_But who am I kidding? This is a freaking closet. What am I expecting, a vent to crawl though?_

He wrung his wrist again in a futile attempt to free his arm before sighing heavily.

_Who would've thought that a kid would end up catching me. He's probably gone to get the police. Ah hell…_

Left with no other option, he pressed his ear to the door and strained to hear any sounds from the other side. There were voices.

"Have you seen anyone?" asked a familiar voice. He was the big guy guarding the door he noted. The one he had no trouble getting past.

"No," replied Eren. "I checked this whole floor, there's nothing here."

His eyes widened. Why was this person lying for him, a total stranger and a criminal to boot? _He couldn't be thinking about turning me in _himself _right? He can't be that stupid._

"Well we finished the rest of the building, nothing's there as well."

He heard a sigh from the other side of the door.

"That must mean it's a false alarm right? Wow... I was worried. We should be heading back now Eren, the security cameras might be down for a little while though, Christa's getting them checked."

"Yeah," Replied Eren vaguely. Ear pressed against the door, he heard footsteps before they receded out the room.

* * *

"What's your name?"

There was no reply. They were at Eren's apartment sitting on the couch, he took the chance that the security cameras were down and left work early saying that he wasn't feeling well. Eren didn't know what to do with the boy. It was his spur of the moment decision that he didn't turn him in so he supposed he couldn't just leave him there. He explained that they were going back to Eren's house, and he simply followed without complaint. The moment they arrived, Eren gave him a full body search and was surprised at the _fourteen_ knives he found. Some were hidden in the weirdest of places, like the upturns of his sleeves and on the inner side of his belt. Strangely enough, he didn't protest or even speak as Eren disarmed him, he only watched with a flat expression as though he were judging him.

After a quick shower, Eren walked back into his living room to find him still sitting on the couch eyeing him with that pale blue gaze. He had been unsure of whether it was wise to leave him there alone while he went to take a shower, but he wasn't armed and after his search, the boy hadn't moved an inch from the couch. And he hadn't spoken either. Eren made his way towards him, a towel draped across his shoulder wet hair dripping onto the carpet. He received a disgruntled look.

"Um- hey, do you have a name?" Eren repeated cautiously, glancing at him.

He shot Eren a sharp stare.

"Why." He demanded.

Eren blinked in surprise. "You mean why I didn't turn you in? I… I don't really know." He answered honestly, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe its cause you don't look like a criminal, you don't look too harmful but that kick really hurt. Maybe it's just cause you looked around my age too…"

He shook his head. "Never mind, what's done is done. So, would you like something to eat?"

A sigh. "You're stupid."

"Hey! Don't just start badmouthing the moment you-"

"Levi."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Levi."

Eren stared at him. "Oh, alright then…"

_Oh sure he doesn't tell me his name when I ask and when I'm talking to him he just cuts me off._

"Anyways..." Eren began awkwardly, "Levi, do you want something to eat?"

His eyes narrowed.

"You're not even going to ask me why I broke into the museum?"

"Do you want me to?" asked Eren exasperatedly. Talking to this kid can be so difficult…

"I'm not a kid."

"How did you-?"

"Your face says it all," replied Levi tonelessly. "How old are you?"

"Oh, twenty," answered Eren.

"I'm twenty-four."

"Really?" exclaimed Eren in surprise. "But- wow, you definitely don't look it."

"What that an insult?"

"No! No-"

"Good."

Eren's eye twitched nervously. _This is my house yet why is he acting like he's in charge._

"_Anyway_," Eren pressed on, "My name is Eren, Eren Jaegar, it's nice to meet you Levi." He held out his hand and smiled.

Levi regarded his hand with wary apprehension. After a few moments, Eren dropped it with a sigh.

"Alright then, we're done with introductions. Levi, do- do you have anywhere to stay?"

No reply again.

"That's fin-"

"I'll leave."

"What? But where to?"

"That... doesn't concern you, I appreciate you not turning me in. I'll leave." He repeated, making to get up from the couch. Though he had somewhat said thank you, his voice was monotone and emotionless. Eren was quite sure he didn't even mean it.

"Woah woah no-," groaned Eren, grasping his shoulders and pushing him back onto the couch. "You're not leaving."

"Don't touch me," hissed Levi and Eren snapped his hands back reflexively.

"If you don't have anywhere to go, you can stay with me," offered Eren, giving a small grin. "I live here with my sister Mikasa but she's away for studies and staying at a friend's. She won't be back until next month, but she may drop in to visit."

He gestured down the hall. "That's the guest room, you can stay in there for now until you find somewhere to go."

Leaning back on the couch, Levi surveyed him with his hard eyes. "But I'm a criminal."

"No, you're not."

"_Excuse me?" _asked Levi incredulously. "I broke into that museum."

"I said you're not. You haven't stolen anything so technically you're not a criminal."

_But what about the knives?_

"I- wow, you're quite the airhead."

"Though it'd be great if you'd stop with the insults," muttered Eren somewhat to himself. Levi chuckled. Eren stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You…You laughed!"

"Huh? So what?"

"That's the first time you've actually showed some emotion, not like a statue!"

"Tch. And why are you so happy about that?"

"Mm I don't know, it just makes me happy that you're finally acting yourself," smiled Eren. "It means you're getting comfortable around me."

"You don't even know me so how would you know I'm acting _myself?"_

"Oh, good point I guess. Well either way you talking is way better than sitting there like a statue and glaring at me all the time."

"Uh-huh…"

"Hey Levi, I'm going to get something to eat okay? You hungry?"

Levi didn't reply.

"So we're back to this again," sighed Eren. "Just a sec 'kay?"

Eren stood up and went in what Levi assumed was the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned with two steaming bowls of instant noodles. He placed the bowls carefully on a round table in front of the couch and set down two pairs of chopsticks.

"I hope you don't mind instant noodles," smiled Eren nervously. "I'm not that great at cooking."

"It's fine… thanks."

"No problem." Laughed Eren. "That's the first time you said thanks."

"Hm."

Halfway through eating, silence fell again. For the first few minutes Eren had tried to keep up a conversation but Levi's answers weren't very encouraging given he even answered at all. Levi was eating very slowly and staring at the food as though deep in thought. For the first time Eren noticed that Levi's arms, or rather most of his exposed skin, was covered in scratches, mostly healed but a few looked quite recent. His arms were fairly muscles and he could see a faint bruise welling up where the handcuff cut into his skin. After the meal, Eren set the bowls in the sink and got set to washing them. Levi watched him from the couch with the same calculating expression.

"So Levi," began Eren, wiping his hands on a towel before setting it back onto the kitchen counter. "You should get to bed. There's bathroom's that way if you need and I'll show you to your room."

Making his way over to the couch, Eren pulled Levi up by the arm and lead him to the room next to the kitchen. A single bed was shoved into the corner of the room and a large desk occupied the rest. There was another door at the end of the room for what he assumed was the bathroom. It was fairly small and quite cluttered, the room wasn't too big to begin with but with the bed and the desk, there wasn't much empty space. Papers and binders were strewn all around the room so that there was barely any stepping space.

Levi gave the mess a look of disgust but didn't say anything. Eren glanced at him nervously, "Sorry about the mess… I was studying for finals. I'll get that cleaned up tomorrow alright? So um, I hope you're okay with it..."

"It's fine," said Levi flatly. _And it's not like I'm in any position to complain._

"One last thing though, Levi I hope you don't mind but I'm going to lock the door tonight okay? Just for- for a precaution."

"Alright."

"Good night."

The door snapped shut and with a click of metal he was locked in here. Levi settled down on the bed, it was a little hard but nothing he couldn't adjust to. It was a smart move, disarming him and locking the door.

_So he doesn't trust me yet._

His lips curved into a faint smile and his pale eyes drifted shut.

_Shame he was stupid enough to even bother with me in the first place._

* * *

**A/N: **thanks for reading! ^^

edit oh dear I didn't realize I used rivaille instead of levi in one place XD sorry I didn't notice I'm still too used to that name. thank you guest for pointing that out c:


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**It seemed people liked this story so I'm going to continue it ^^ sorry I took so long to update I was away for a few weeks

* * *

**Break ****in ****to My Heart**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

The next morning Eren woke abruptly to the loud beeping of his alarm clock. After a few seconds of dazed panic he remembered that he'd set it up early so that he wouldn't oversleep and miss work. Sitting up with a groan, he prodded the button that turned the ringer off and struggled not to fall asleep again.

After Mikasa left to stay at her friend's place for studies, Eren bought the alarm clock to make sure he would get up on time. Glancing at the clock, he wasn't sure whether he liked this method of waking up or not. But as the alternative was having his blanket yanked off by Mikasa and being dragged out of his room, maybe he could get used to this one.

Running a hand through his hair, Eren got up and made his way to the bathroom. A look in the mirror told him it hadn't been a great idea to sleep yesterday while his hair was still wet, it now stood up at strange angles and all over the place. After a few minutes of tackling his hair with a wet comb, he gave it up as a hopeless case and started to wash his face. Running the cold water over his cheeks he shook off the grogginess from sleep and blinked a few times to rid himself of the fatigue. Then he froze, a trickle of water ran down his face and dripped off his chin, _Ah... right-_ his green eyes widened having remembered yesterday's encounter.

Rushing the rest of his morning bathroom routine, Eren scrambled up the hallway and up to Levi's room. He was half hoping that yesterday had been a dream as he turned the metal lock on the door. But it was to no luck as it swung open revealing Levi who was sleeping soundly on the bed. Or had been. The moment Eren opened the door, his eyes snapped open and shot towards the door. Though the reflex was quick, Eren noticed that it took a few seconds for the dazed looked to pass and his eyes to focus, he was clearly still sleepy.

"Ah- sorry for waking you up!" he stammered.

"It's fine," muttered Levi, propping himself up on the bed. He gave Eren's bed hair a skeptical look. "I should've gotten up sooner anyways."

"No no you seem tired, maybe you should rest a little mo…" he trailed off as his eyes left Levi and his jaw dropped.

"You _cleaned?!"_

But that was an understatement. The room was no longer a mess, quite the contrary actually, everything was so thoroughly polished it practically _glowed_. On the desk sat five piles of paper, each stacked up a few centimeters high with a binder placed at the very top, subject name facing up. All of Eren's bags lay on in the corner next to the desk and the corner of his laptop was peeking out from the top of the shelf. The layer of dust that had been on ground since a week ago was now gone and the floorboards seemed to sparkle.

"Wha- What…?" sputtered Eren, staring at Levi and gesturing around the room, his mouth still hanging open.

"Stop gaping. About that," began Levi tonelessly. "It was bothering me. I hope you don't mind." But the glare he shot Eren looked rather as though he were saying _you'd better not mind. _

"I- uh, yeah…" said Eren, still staring around the room in awe. He hadn't seen it this clean since the last time Armin stayed over which was well over a year ago.

He brought his gaze back to Levi with an amused grin. "You heard me when I said I was going to clean it today though right?"

Levi nodded.

"It was…bothering me," he repeated. He got up from the bed and attempted to straighten out his shirt which was rumpled beyond flattening. He gave it a very disgruntled look but instead of giving up like Eren with his hair, he pressed as hard as he could on the edges, a frown pulling at the corners of his lips.

Eren watched him in amusement but he couldn't help saying, "Well you're quite the neat freak, huh?"

Levi shot him a glare and dropped the hem of his shirt. "No. I just like it clean." His tone clearly said, _end of discussion._

Taking the hint, Eren dropped the subject and pointed at his shirt saying, "If it's too crumpled you could always borrow one of mine. They might be a little big but not too bad." He stretched out his arms to show Levi the plain blue t-shirt he was wearing. "They're all about this size."

He couldn't tell what Levi was thinking from his expression. His face was as passive as ever and those pale blue eyes bore into his skin. Eren wondered if he'd possibly crossed the line. He supposed he was being a little too close by offering Levi to stay at his house and even to borrow his clothes but honestly he didn't think it was that big a deal. Like every time Armin came over for the night Eren would lend him a shirt. It was just a piece of clothing when it comes down to it anyways.

Levi twisted the edge of his shirt one last time and let it fall. "Fine," he muttered. "Thanks. Again."

Eren was surprised. It looked like it took quite some effort to say for some reason and Levi certainly wasn't looking pleased. His brow was furrowed again and he averted his eyes for the first time.

"It's really not that big of a deal Levi," he grinned. "Come with me to my room, I'll get one for you." He held the door open for Levi.

"Well… you're quite the gentleman aren't you," muttered Levi, getting up and stalking past him out the door. There was slight taunting hint to his voice and Eren felt his face heat up in spite himself.

Though another thing hit him when Levi walked past:

_He's short._

The top of his head barely passed Eren's nose, there must've been at least a ten centimeter difference. He hadn't paid it any notice yesterday as he literally _crashed _onto the guy, and on the floor you could barely tell who's taller than the other. Especially with the museum's dim lighting, plus the circumstances weren't exactly ideal for studying each others' physical appearances. And now that he thought about it, even after they arrived at Eren's apartment, Levi spent most of the time sitting on the couch anyways.

_But wow… and he's four years older than me too. _

They made their way to Eren's bedroom in silence, Levi studying Eren ever so slightly with that hard glare of his and Eren trying to keep a straight face because suddenly, Levi didn't seem so intimidating anymore. Eren dug through his closet, trying to find something suitable for him to wear. Levi sat down on Eren's bed without asking for permission and Eren could feel his gaze boring into the back of his skull.

"Um-so... how's this one?" He held up a plain black shirt, it had some colourful designs down the middle and short sleeves just past the shoulder, suitable enough for summer.

"Sure," replied Levi, throwing it a quick glance. "Pass it here."

Eren tossed him the shirt. Levi shrugged off his crumpled t-shirt and pulled on Eren's. Eren's eyes flickered towards his figure subconsciously, trailing down his sides to the hemline of his jeans. He couldn't help but notice that Levi had well defined muscles, but most of that pale skin was also covered in old wounds. He bit down on his lip, wondering if he could ask about it but deciding that it would be too nosy of him.

The shirt was a little large but not too bad. It hung loosely around his hips and passed the hem of his pants. Though his arms like everywhere else were fairly muscled, they still looked thin coming out of the baggy shirt.

Eren chuckled. "With the black shirt and your ripped jeans, you look kinda punk."

Levi didn't laugh. "Whatever," he muttered. "Don't you need to get to work? What time are you leaving?"

The way he asked the question sounded more like he were asking, '_what time am _I_ leaving?'_

_This kid isn't stupid enough to leave me alone at his place. Even he's not _that _stupid._

Eren didn't seem to notice. "Well, it's seven thirty now, I should get there by eight. The museum is pretty close so we can walk there, maybe grab a bite for breakfast…"

"Hold up- _we_?" prompted Levi. "What makes you think that _I'm_ going withyou?"

Eren looked to him in surprise. "Well, unless you have somewhere else you'd rather go, but since you're staying with me and I don't have a spare key, how're you going to get back in here tonight?" He blinked those bright green eyes innocently and Levi wanted to smack himself. Or better yet, smack Eren.

Heaving a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair in exasperation and padded over to the door holding it open for Eren this time. He glared at him.

"_Well? Ladies first."_

* * *

'_This is absurd.'_

Was the only thought going through Levi's head for the entire morning. He was being _introduced _to the very place and people he'd tried to steal from just a day ago. And Eren didn't seem to find it weird at all. He was still sticking firmly to his _you-didn't-take anything-so-you're-not-a-criminal_ ideology and refused to hear another word against it. Of course he hadn't mentioned to his colleagues that Levi was the one who broke into the museum, but Levi thought that bringing him here was as stupid as letting him stay at Eren's home. Even when he whacked him upside the head, he still insisted he come along.

His day started going downhill from the moment they stepped out the front door. It turned out that Eren miscalculated the time it would take them to stop for breakfast and after a quick stop at a café along the way to his workplace, Levi was being dragged along at a sprint, clutching a cup of coffee and trying not to spill it on himself while Eren attempted to swallow a muffin whole. He was just about to dump the drink on the boy's head in irritation when he stopped abruptly at the door of the museum, nearly causing Levi to collide into him.

"Oi! What was that for?"

Eren smiled nervously. "Sorry, sorry, we're here."

"Obviously," muttered Levi darkly. "Give a warning next time, brat." He prodded Eren on the back and he stumbled through the double doors.

"So I've dropped from 'boy' to 'brat' now?" grumbled Eren, ascending the staircase with Levi at his heels. He received no reply.

Once they reached the main foyer, Eren trotted up to the front desk where a pretty girl with long blonde hair sat typing on her computer. She looked up as Eren approached.

"Good morning Eren!" she piped up, her blue eyes as bright as her smile. "And who's this?"

"Morning Christa, this is Levi," grinned Eren, waving a hand towards him. Levi nodded. "He's a friend of mine, mind if he tags along today?"

"Well if you're asking me, of course not, the more the merrier," she laughed. "But you realize we don't open for another half hour right? He's got to pay the admission."

"Can he just pay now?" asked Eren.

"Mm I'd usually say no since we're still setting up, but since it's you I'll let it slide." Eren handed her a ticket which she ripped off a corner and stapled onto the pile on her desk. She gave the torn off slip back. "Though I should mention that Ymir is doing the assembly today, she wasn't so happy when you tripped with that Renaissance painting last time..." she trailed of nervously.

Eren scoffed and waved an airy hand. "If by 'not so happy' you mean she roundhouse kicked me across the room, yes I know what you mean."

Levi snorted and Christa gave a small chuckle. "She's not as bad as you make her out to be. Ymir's really nice once you get to know her."

"Then you're the only one who really knows her," replied Eren with half a smile. "Well, thanks Christa! We'll be going now Levi- Levi?"

He turned around only to find that Levi was gone.

* * *

By the time the brat finished talking with the girl, Levi was already long gone. He had no interest in listening to a couple of teenagers' small talk.

_This is absurd..._

His train of thought hadn't changed much since this morning. He made his way quietly down an empty corridor hands thrust deep into his pockets. Rows of paintings lined the walls and glass display cases enclosed works worth millions of dollars. Levi sort of appreciated art, either way, he found it fascinating how anyone could express anything through means like paint and pencil. He'd been taught for half his life that his feelings should be kept down and the other half, that they should be voiced only through his fists. Figure of speech of course, his kicks were quite strong too.

He sighed pausing in front of a painting. It was abstract, mostly orange with splotches of red throughout. _It looks like blood..._

"Hey."

He froze. Well, jumping was never quite like him. They used to compare him to a cat, always tensing up at the slightest disturbance. Turning, he found himself face to face with Eren.

"Oh...Hey."

Eren looked irritated.

"Where were you?" he demanded, fuming.

"I was here," stated Levi plainly.

"I see that, I meant why did you leave?"

"I was bored and your conversation had nothing to do with me."

Eren sighed exasperatedly. "At least don't wander off on your own, you might get lost in here!"

Levi eyed him sharply. "Do you really think I would get lost in _here_?"

"I-oh." He stared realizing what he had said. "Sorry."

"No," Levi shook his head. "I should be sorry, never mind."

But at the same time he couldn't help thinking, _that can't be the only reason you're afraid of leaving me alone in here. _

With a last irritated click of his tongue, he turned away from the red-washed painting and followed Eren out the hall.

For the next twenty minutes, Eren brought him around the museum trailing him like an annoying, overly friendly tour guide, and introduced him to all of his colleagues. Most of them came over to say hi but eventually drifted away as Levi wasn't much of a conversation starter. He didn't mind in the least, he preferred quiet anyways. Levi tailed Eren around in silence for majority of the day while he did his work. He rarely spoke and (Eren suspected, though he didn't dare voice it) that due to his height, most people didn't even notice he was there. Either that or they were just too afraid to approach him since that glare was _scary. _

Connie and Sasha, who were rather talkative, managed a decent conversation with Levi for a while but none of them looked like they were really into it. Annie had a short stare-down with him and Ymir took one glance at him, gave a small nod which he returned, and left. So all in all, the morning was pretty boring for Eren, though did have to stifle his laughter when Levi kicked Jean on the shin for calling him 'shorty'.

Eren could feel Levi's eyes on him and (as Armin would say,) if looks could kill he'd already be long dead. The saddest part is that he doesn't think Levi even realizes he's scaring people off too. After the first five minutes of getting walking around and getting no questions from the visitors, Eren realized that people were even starting to skirt around him in an attempt to avoid them. A little boy had run up to him smiling and when Eren smiled back, the kid looked absolutely terrified and ran off. He scratched the back of his head nervously wondering if there had perhaps been something on his face when turned to see Levi behind him practically emanating a dark aura.

"Um- Levi, could you-er- perhaps look a little less angry? You're scaring the children away…" he gestured to the two meter radius around them in which everyone seemed to be avoiding. Levi glowered at him. "Ah- I mean- just a little happier?" he gave a nervous smile and hoped that his eye wasn't twitching.

Nodding, Levi walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar. He gave a hard yank and Eren was forced to bend down slightly so that they on the same eye level. He winced already half expecting to get hit. But Levi didn't hit him.

Levi _smiled_ at him. If you could even call it a smile. His lips curved up at the corners lightly and Eren could see light dimples on his cheeks. It would have been cute, but the smile _definitely _didn't reach his eyes which were still the same stone cold stare as they've always been. If anything, _it made him even _more_ terrifying._

"How's this?" Levi muttered.

Eren averted his eyes nervously.

"Ah… sure…"

_Guess I'm not getting any more questions today._

* * *

And true to his expectations, Eren spent the rest of the day walking down the corridors and being avoided by all the visitors. Levi tailed along behind him with that creepy grin which Eren had been too frightened to ask him to stop. How do you even ask a guy to stop smiling because _it's just too scary?_

They walked back to Eren's apartment together after work, and dumping his stuff in a pile on the couch, Eren promptly got busy making dinner. Levi sighed and tidied up the mess before going back to sitting on the same spot on the sofa as before and not saying a word.

_To be honest_, Eren thought as he set the plates on the table. _Levi isn't that bad. And even if he's not great with people, I refuse to believe he's a criminal._

After the meal was eaten and the dishes were done, Eren made his way to the bathroom to wash up before bed, except he found his path blocked by Levi.

"Levi?" he asked curiously. "What's up?"

His gaze was met by Levi's hard stare, cold and unwavering as always. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"You're not going to turn me in?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Eren was taken aback. "No I'm not."

"Why not?"

_This again?_

"I told you yesterday," he began exasperatedly. "I have no intentions in turning you over to the police. You never took anything from the museum and neither have you hurt anyone. I- I don't see why it's such a big deal."

Levi frown seemed to tighten. "You keep saying that but you're naïve. That's not the way police should think, that's not the way they _do _think. You're a security guard aren't you? Last time I checked, trespassing is also illegal."

"I-" Eren gritted his teeth. "That's-"

"Turn me in," Levi insisted quietly.

Eren froze. "Do you… want to be turned it?"

"…no."

"Then why are you so intent on being turned in?" he demanded. This didn't make any sense, Levi should be agreeing with him, and yet he's not.

"No Jaeger. Not being turned it, _you _turning me in." he replied calmly. "I'm trouble. And you're getting yourself involved in matters you don't need to be."

"So this is about me is it?" Eren almost laughed out loud in relief; at least he finally understood what was going on in Levi's head now, well sort of. "That's quite a heavy consequence you've got there. If you're worried about me then quit worrying, I can handle myself. What good does it do if you go to jail anyways? -Levi's eyes narrowed- "I mean you're only twenty-four, and - I dunno- why don't you take this as a second chance or something? I'm _not_ turning you in."

With that he brushed past Levi and walked into the bathroom, closing the door.

"Tch. Those words are naïve, Jaeger," muttered Levi to no one in particular.

Making his way back to the living room, he dug around in Eren's bag and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in a few numbers and waited for the rings. The conversation didn't take long, by the time Eren came out of the bathroom Levi was already setting the phone back onto the counter.

"What're you doing?" Eren called from across the room.

"Just making a call." Levi replied tonelessly. Bidding goodnight to the boy, he shut the door to his room and heard the familiar metalic _click._

* * *

The following morning, Eren made sure to get up as his alarm rang. As tempting as pressing the snooze button was, he didn't fancy going to work on an empty stomach. Throwing on a simple shirt and jeans, he left the room and shuffled up the hallway, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

Not wanting to wake Levi up again, Eren rapped on the door lightly with his knuckles. There was no reply. Sighing, he placed his hand on the knob and found that it _turned._

_He was sure he had locked the door last night._

Swinging the door open, he half expected to see a crime scene, instead, his room was just the way it always was. _Except Levi wasn't there anymore._

The room was as clean as it had been yesterday, the bed was made and the blankets folded. On the blanket, Eren noticed, was his shirt; the one he lent Levi yesterday, folded neatly with a small piece of paper resting on top.

He picked it up hoping for some kind of explanation. On it, three words were scrawled in neat handwriting, no thanks or any information on what had happened or where he had gone.

It read:

_I washed it._

* * *

A/N: thanks for reading!


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